PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Tom Gugliotta added some joy to a sorrowful
season, hitting a 20-foot jumper with 1.3 seconds left to give
the Phoenix Suns a 94-92 victory over the Houston Rockets.

Already having rallied from 16 points down, the Suns erased a
seven-point deficit in the final 3 1/2 minutes and gained their
first lead since early in the second quarter when Gugliotta sank
his shot.

After a timeout with 8.1 seconds to play, the Suns got the ball
to Jason Kidd, who drove the lane and passed back to Gugliotta
after Steve Francis slipped. From near the top of the key,
Gugliotta buried the jumper for the lead.

"The ball was to be in Jason's hands and we were going to let
him make the decision," Gugliotta said. "He flipped it back. I
was open."

"Regardless of if I fell or not, he made the shot," said
Francis, who was guarding Kidd. "That's it. Case closed, slam
the hammer. Whatever, that's it."

Gugliotta scored 12 points -- all in the second half. He went
0-for-6 from the floor in the first half and 5-for-5 in the
second.

"I wasn't worried about it, even though I was 0-for-6," said
Gugliotta, a former All-Star. "I still felt confident I was
going to knock them down."

After returning from a torn ACL and MCL, Gugliotta had averaged
only 6.3 points per game in a season marred by his mother's
death.

He also has been part of a team that has played most of an
injury-plagued season without guard Penny Hardaway, one of three
Suns to have had a brush with the law this year.

"A lot of things have happened to these guys this year," coach
Scott Skiles said. "These are good guys out there and good
players as well."

Kidd had 19 points and 16 assists and Shawn Marion and Cliff
Robinson added 17 points apiece for the Suns, who moved one-half
game ahead of Minnesota for seventh place in the Western
Conference.

"Down 16, we could have thrown in the towel, but we know what's
at stake here," said Kidd, who added eight rebounds. "We did it
for a quarter and a half. That's a good sign.

"We know what Houston's capable of doing and we know they're
chasing us. We've got to win the games we're supposed to win
and tonight, we had to."

Behind Francis and a red-hot Cuttino Mobley, the Rockets seemed
to be in control down the stretch but missed their last four
shots and fell 2 1/2 games behind the Timberwolves for the final
playoff spot in the West.

Francis scored 22 points and Mobley added 21, including 13
straight in the fourth quarter for Houston, which had an 89-82
lead with 3:39 remaining.

After the game, coach Rudy Tomjanovich and Mobley blamed
officials Bob Delaney and Derek Richardson for missing calls
down the stretch. They claimed they did the same in a 100-95
loss at Dallas last week.

"Those two guys got us again," said Tomjanovich, who likely will
be fined after a profanity-filled tirade after the game. ... I
can't believe it, twice in a row. What a bunch of (crap)."

"I know people are human beings," Mobley added. "But there's a
lot of grudge-taking out there."

Despite the complaints, Houston attempted four more free throws
than Phoenix, going 21-of-24 from the line. The Suns were
15-of-20.

The Rockets had a 92-88 lead after Walt Williams hit a 3-pointer
with 2:04 to play. But after a tough jumper by Marion, Francis
missed a layup and Maurice Taylor failed on an easy follow shot.

Phoenix followed with a backcourt violation before Mobley missed
a baseline floater. Marion then tied it at 92-92 with a banker
on the baseline and Mobley was too strong on a drive with 33
seconds to play.

Marion had tied it with 53 seconds left when he drove the left
side of the baseline, held on to the ball after Mobley nearly
stripped him and hit a banker.

"Marion made some really big shots," Tomjanovich said. "He made
one on the baseline when Cuttino got his hand on the ball. He
just made some big plays."

The Suns had two chances on the decisive possession. Marion had
a baseline jumper rim out but the Rockets lost the ball out of
bounds under the basket.

Houston won the battle of the boards, 44-40, led by Francis' 14.
Kenny Thomas added nine off the bench and Taylor and Mobley had
seven each.

But Mobley did his damage in the scoring column. After
Gugliotta sank an 18-footer to cap a 9-0 run and get Phoenix
within 76-75 with 7:39 to play, Mobley scored 13 straight points
for Houston.

Taking advantage of constant double-teams on Francis, Mobley
helped stretch the Rockets' lead to 89-82 by hitting a pair of
free throws with 3:39 to play.

Francis made 8-of-16 shots. He had 13 points in the third
quarter as the Rockets built a 70-54 lead 5:33 before the
fourth.

"Their not stupid enough to play me 1-on-1," Francis said. "That
would be stupid."

The Suns scored the next 10 points to get within 70-64 and used
a 9-0 run to get within 76-75 with 7:39 to play.

"We made a lot of good plays, had a lot of opportunities,"
Skiles said. "We fought back every time and got big plays from
a lot of different guys."

Taylor scored 20 points and Williams added 12 for the Rockets,
who suffered just their fourth loss in the last 17 games. They
shot 46 percent from the field (33-of-72) while holding the Suns
to 43 percent (38-of-88).

"I have a bad taste in my mouth," Tomjanovich said. "It has
nothing to do with that (missed shots). It has to do with those
other outsiders."